Monday, March 11, 2013

God´s a God of Mercy! Praise the Lord! (Week 42)

You´re the meaning in my life! You´re the inspiration! Gotta love Chicago. I am extremely happy to be writing you all this letter because it is the dawning of a new day here in Tres Coracoes.

First of all, I will attach a picture of me in front of a very pretty Catholic Church here in Tres Coracoes.

Second of all, I will explain the lesion on my forehead. I was, as I said, very excited to receive the exercise book that Dad sent. In my enthusiasm, I got into the push-up position to really start cranking out some push-ups. Due to my excessive excitement, I foolishly placed my head close the wall instead of away from the wall. So, when I went down to do the first pushup, I regrettably bashed my head on the wall. It didn´t hurt that bad, but started to scab the next day. There is true wisdom in the Lord´s counsel to be temperate in all things.

We are working hard here and seeking to follow the Lord´s will for us here in Tres Coracoes. We are helping a woman called Tatiane stop smoking so that she can be baptized. She has four little kids that she is raising all by herself. I really want to help her change her life - the gospel will help and comfort her so much. She came to church yesterday and really liked it. We are going to fast and pray with her this week. The great joy of serving a mission I think is helping other people change their lives through the gospel. That´s what it is all about.

Anyone else getting excited for General Conference? I sure am.

To all the wonderful people who are going on missions or are serving right now, I say GOOD ON YA MATE! One of my favorite hymns is Praise the Lord, The Almighty. And there is a line there that I really love and teaches a profound truth. The third verse says `Ponder anew what the Almighty can do, who with His love doth befriend thee.` Just think! What can God do? Anything and everything! If you feel down or discouraged or overwhelmed and think you can´t go on, just remember that God has all power and He will support you and befriend you with his love.

Elder Sipião continues to be a great companion. Today we had a really great discussion about faith. He helps me see how I can have more faith and he has some incredible insights about the gospel. He joined the Church all by himself when he was 15 and has a fervent testimony of the truth. It really is a blessing to serve with him. He, like I said, has a great love for American pop music. Whenever we feel down or discouraged, he will sing Keep Holdin´on by Avril Lavrigne. Never thought I would appreciate that song as much as I do now.

Sometimes, you have hard times on the mission. Sometimes you feel like you are giving your all, but it just isn't working. What I do when I feel like that is I sing a hymn. Silly as it may seem, I find immense comfort in Vinde Os Santos or Alegres Cantemos. Today, I sang Do You Hear the People Sing and really, I felt the Spirit very strongly. It is really cool how the Spirit can speak to us and I feel the Spirit especially strongly when I sing. What a blessing music is.

I know that Joseph Smith was called of God. I know that God lives and the only way to true happiness is the gospel. To all who read this, please keep the commandments and stay close to the Lord! You are all loved and watched over by our Heavenly Father. I know that He loves all His children.